Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – A group yoga camp scheduled to take place in the Nepali capital was cancelled at the last moment. A popular Hindu guru from India, Swami Ram Dev, was supposed to preach to a crowd of some 30,000 people who had registered for the event. Despite political backing and police protection the meeting was deemed “too dangerous” to go ahead.
The episode is indicative of the increasingly tense situation in Nepal, in prey for the past few days of clashes between Maoists and the regular army.
Maoists recently quit the ruling coalition to protest against the decision not to abolish the monarchy, announcing their intention to resume their guerrilla fight until the state becomes “truly secular.”
Currently, Maoists hold 83 seats in the 329-seat National Assembly. Before that they fought a ten-year guerrilla war against King Gyanendra; at its height the war saw them in control of entire regions of the country.
India and the United States condemned the Maoists’ pullout of the current government.
The two powers called on all parties to seek a peaceful solution to the country’s internal problems.
